We are studying the diversity of mites associated with all kinds of bees in the United States and Canada. You may be familiar with the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) and the Honey Bee Tracheal Mite (Acarapis woodi), that are parasites of honey bees. Our mission is to document all the *other* species of mites associated with native and introduced North American bees. There are hundreds of species still unknown to science, and as beekeepers start to use other bee species for pollination, we want to be ready with information about the mites associated with those bees. There may be other parasites out there, but some bee mites are beneficial to the bees as well, and we will be developing identification tools to sort them out.